Weather History: November 20: Record Warm, Cold, Snow, Severe Storms, Flooding & Hurricane Kate

November 19, 9:56 PMWilmington Weather ExaminerCharlie Wilson

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Meteorological events that happened on November 20th:

1869
A second great windstorm in 3 days struck Vermont and New York blowing railroad trains off their tracks.

1879
A hurricane that formed in the Caribbean Sea moved across Cuba then raced N to Labrador. Although the storm remained a considerable distance from the Atlantic
seaboard, Cape May, NJ, measured a wind gust to 112 mph.

1900
An unusual tornado outbreak in the Lower Mississippi Valley resulted in 73 deaths and extensive damage across Arkansas, Mississippi and Tennessee.  A group of students and a teacher trying to escape an approaching tornado in Arkansas were injured when the twister overtook them.  It had missed the school building entirely.  Two F4 tornadoes accounted for most of the deaths.

1914
Atlanta, GA only reached a high of 28° for the day, marking their earliest daily high below 32°.

1942
A 6-day heat wave was in progress from Texas to the Mid-Atlantic States.   National Airport at Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, MD had peak temperatures of 79°.  Other locations reporting daily record highs included: Wichita Falls, TX: 84°-Tied, Amarillo, TX: 83°, Austin (Bergstrom), TX: 83°, Midland-Odessa, TX: 83°, Savannah, GA: 83°, Augusta, GA: 82°, Columbia, SC: 82°, Charleston, SC: 82°-Tied, Tupelo, MS: 80°, Paducah, KY: 80°, Athens, GA: 80°, Macon, GA: 80°, Roanoke, VA: 80°, Huntsville, AL: 79°, Atlanta, GA: 79°, Charlotte, NC: 79°, Lexington, KY: 78°, Chattanooga, TN: 78°, Nashville, TN: 78°, Raleigh, NC: 78°, Greenville-Spartanburg, SC: 78°-Tied, Harrisburg, PA: 77°, St. Louis, MO: 76°, Springfield, IL: 76°, Asheville, NC: 76°, Indianapolis, IN: 75°, Wilmington, DE: 75°,  Columbus, OH: 74°-Tied, Dayton, OH: 74°-Tied, Williamsport, PA: 73°, Peoria, IL: 72°, Fort Wayne, IN: 70°-Tied, Detroit, MI: 70°-Tied and Rockford, IL: 69°.
***See Slideshow***
1977
Northern and western portions of South Dakota were hammered by a strong winter storm that began the previous day ending on this date. The storm moved rapidly from Colorado across eastern Nebraska and into Minnesota producing widespread snowfall across the area. Generally snowfall totals ranged from 5 to 15 inches. Winds of 50 mph produced blowing snow which greatly reduced visibilities and drifted snow up to 5 feet deep. The storm also caused the derailment of a freight train in northeast South Dakota.
***See Slideshow***
1979
A blizzard struck parts of the Rockies.  Cheyenne, WY received a record 19.8 inches of snow in 24 hours, and a record total of 25.6 inches in 40 hours.  Other snowfall totals included: Wheatland: 26 inches, Douglas, WY: 13 inches, Rawlins, WY: 10.8 inches and Scottsbluff, NE: 7.6 inches.  Strong winds created huge drifts stopping all transportation.

A few locations from Texas to the Mid-Atlantic reported record high temperatures for the date including: Del Rio, TX: 83°-Tied, Atlanta, GA: 79°-Tied, Memphis, TN: 78°, Sterling (Dulles Airport), VA: 75° and Oak Ridge, TN: 74°.

An unusual electrical storm hit Yukutat, AK.

1985
Kate intensified to a major Category 3 Hurricane and as she moved west of Key West, FL wit top winds of 115 mph and a minimum central pressure of 954 millibars or 28.17 inHg.  The next day Kate made landfall between Panama City and Apalachicola, FL. Tides ran 8 to 10 feet above normal. Many houses were damaged by fallen trees. Many power poles and lines were downed. Several roads were washed out.
***See Slideshow***
1987
Blustery northwest winds created snow squalls in the Great Lakes Region and the Upper Ohio Valley.  Snowfall totals in Upper Michigan ranged up to 18 inches at Paradise.  Lake City, MI received 9.5 inches of snow in just four and a half hours.  Up to a foot of snow blanketed Oswego County in western New York State.  Strong winds produced wind chill readings as cold as -20°.

1988
Thunderstorms developing ahead of a fast moving cold front produced severe weather in the Upper Ohio Valley and the Mid-Atlantic Coast Region during the afternoon and early evening.  Thunderstorm winds gusted to 69 mph at Kennedy Airport in New York City, and winds along the cold front itself gusted to 56 mph at Cincinnati, OH.  The same storm produced snow in parts of Kansas, Missouri and Illinois, with 8 inches reported at Rolla, MO.  Up to nine inches of snow fell in the Oklahoma Panhandle, while up to 7 inches fell in parts of northern Oklahoma. The snow was accompanied by sleet, freezing rain, and even thunder.
Some locations across the southeast reported record high temperatures for the date including: Daytona Beach, FL: 88°, Jacksonville, FL: 86°, Tampa, FL: 85°-Tied, Raleigh, NC: 78°-Tied and Bristol, TN: 75°.

1989
Low pressure brought thunderstorms and high winds to the northeastern U.S.  There were 193 reports of damaging winds with thunderstorms in New York State, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.  Tornadoes touched down near Seaside Park, NJ and McAlevys Fort, PA. Thunderstorm winds gusted to 94 mph at Newburgh, NY and 92 mph at Poughkeepsie, NY.  High winds in the Washington D.C. area gusted to 73 mph, resulted in one fatality.
Some locations from the Rockies to the West Coast reported record high temperatures for the date including: Santa Maria, CA: 88°, Fort Smith, AR: 82°, Tulsa, OK: 81°, Oklahoma City, OK: 78°, Stockton, CA: 73°, Ely, NV: 72°, Sacramento, CA: 71°, San Francisco (Airport), CA: 69°-Tied and Alamosa, CO: 65°.

1994
Strong west winds whipped across parts of West Texas and most of the southern Plains. Wind gusts to 63 mph were recorded by the NWS at Lubbock International Airport, with a gust to 60 mph reported in Plainview.  The high winds also caused lowing dust, with visibilities reduced to a half mile at times.

Corpus Christi, TX reported a record high of 87° and Tampa, FL tied their record high with 85°.

2001
Five people were killed during thunderstorms at Tenerife in the Canary Islands.  3.43 inches of rain fell at Las Palmas while Santa Cruz reported 3.31 inches. The average November rainfall there is 1.77 inches.

2004
Thundersnow started during evening in the upper California desert and snow continued through the 22nd. Widespread reports of two feet with drifts to three feet came from Wrightwood, Lake Arrowhead, Big Bear and the Palm Springs Tramway, at 8,500 feet. The snow level was as low as 1,000 feet. 18 to 20 inches of snow fell in foothills south of Yucca Valley, 14 inches fell in Phelan, 9 to 12 inches in Hesperia and Apple Valley, 9 inches in Yucaipa and Calimesa and up to 3 inches throughout the southern Inland Empire. Tree damage resulted in lower elevations, which caused house damage and power outages. Snow lined I-10 near Calimesa for a few days following the end of the snow.

On this date through the 21st, wind gusts were clocked at 108 mph in parts of Slovakia, the strongest since record keeping began in 1936.  The winds destroyed approximately half of all the timber in the country's High Tatras Mountains.  Officials put the loss in the tens of millions of dollars.

A hailstorm dropping hailstones as big as walnuts triggered blasts from previously unexploded and undiscovered bomblets scattered across the landscape across southern Lebanon. No injuries were reported.

2007
A winter storm beginning the previous day through this date brought moderate to heavy snow across northern and central Rockies.  While generally 2 to 6 inches fell across parts of Colorado, higher amounts were reported further north.  Snowfall totals included: Roscoe, MT: 13 inches, Red Lodge, MT: 12 inches, Big Timber, MT: 10 inches, Pray, MT: 8 inches, Livingston, MT: 7 inches, Fort Collins, CO: 7 inches, Boulder, CO: 6 inches, Wilsall, MT: 6 inches and Billings 5.5" (their 1st measurable snow of the season).
Meanwhile further south areas from Texas to the Southwest reported record high temperatures for the date including: Wichita Falls, TX: 85°, Amarillo, TX: 85°-Tied, Amarillo, TX: 84°, Dallas (DFW), TX: 84°, Oklahoma City, OK: 82°, El Paso, TX: 79°-Tied, Las Vegas, NV: 76°-Tied, Albuquerque, NM: 73° and Reno, NV: 71°.